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Cambridge law firm crossing borders in rapid global scale-up

Cambridge-based global law firm Mills & Reeve has strengthened its European reach by formulating agreements with partner firms in Germany and the Netherlands as part of a hard-wired international expansion strategy.

Building on existing relationships, Mills & Reeve has signed affiliation agreements with Graf von Westphalen of Germany and Van Benthem & Keulen of the Netherlands. But this reflects just a fraction of the firm’s cross-border blueprint which sees it packing on the muscle across the globe in a determined drive.

Mills & Reeve’s international offering is escalating fast;it has worked with clients in over 75 jurisdictions in the last 12 months. A key aim of the firm’s 2020 strategy is to expand its services to international and London-based clients by successfully leveraging its global network of leading legal experts.

In terms of the new German and Dutch agreements, these will enhance services to clients post-Brexit.

Mills & Reeve has been working increasingly closely with the firms concerned for more than 10 years on a broad range of transactions including M & A, private equity, flotations, corporate finance, employment law and commercial disputes, providing clients with a seamless service across the three jurisdictions.

Graf von Westphalen is one of Germany’s largest independent law firms with five offices across Germany as well as branches in Brussels, Istanbul and Shanghai.

Van Benthem & Keulen is particularly well-known for its IURA ACTUA training programme for general counsel. Both firms have substantial experience in advising UK businesses and entrepreneurs operating in their respective countries.

Tom Pickthorn (pictured above), head of international at Mills & Reeve, said: “Our international strategy is driven by a fundamental ambition – to provide our clients with expert legal support wherever they are doing business in the world. The affiliations with our friends in Germany and the Netherlands are important steps forward to achieving this strategy.

“With the uncertainties and opportunities arising from Brexit, it is more important than ever that we can provide our clients a seamless service in these key markets.

“The affiliation we signed in 2014 with FIDAL, the largest law firm in France, has already shown us how much our clients value this approach.”